JeffReuben
2016 Bronxdale Avenue in 2016
This building, considered an Art Deco gem, is the Bronx Park Medical Pavilion but was originally built as the building for the outdoor Bronxdale Swimming Pool. Unlike New York's many mid- and high-rise Art Deco buildings, this structure has been described as atypical for the Big Apple and more akin to a Miami-style Art Deco building with a horizontal character.
According to several sources, it was built in 1928, however this is contradicted by a 23 December 1930 Brooklyn Daily Eagle article. The news story reports that Shampan & Shampan architects of Brooklyn had been retained to design a swimming pool and 3-story building at the corner of Bronxdale Avenue and Antin Place in the Bronx. Consistent with this, a 27 April 1931 article in the Evening Post (today's NY Post) refers to the "new Bronxdale Swimming Pool." Other 1931 newspaper articles confirm the building and pool being under construction and completed in 1931. (It is a bit ironic that one of the best sources of information on this pool was the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, but it demonstrates the Eagle was a very thorough newspaper.)
The Bronxdale Swimming Pool was a private facility and was the target of a protest by Communists in 1932 objecting to a purported policy that prohibited African-Americans from using the pool. Several protesters were arrested. The following year, the Afro-American newspaper reported that a lawsuit was being brought after two "colored" children were denied use of the pool. Whether these efforts succeeded in this pre-civil rights era are unknown.
In 1945 the NY Sun ran an advertisement for an auction of the Bronxdale Swimming Pool, noting it was a "going business" and a "real estate opportunity." A 1948 Brooklyn Eagle article reported on a water carnival taking place at the pool. At some point after, the pool ceased operating.
According to a 1984 article in the Yonkers Herald Statesman, after the swimming pool stop operating, the building was converted into an electronics factory. The property where the swimming pool was located has been a parking lot for many years.
For further reading:
bklyn.newspapers.com/image/58063185/?terms=shampan%2Bswim...
bklyn.newspapers.com/image/57368024/?terms=%22bronxdale%2...
news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1532&dat=19330701&...
2016 Bronxdale Avenue in 2016
This building, considered an Art Deco gem, is the Bronx Park Medical Pavilion but was originally built as the building for the outdoor Bronxdale Swimming Pool. Unlike New York's many mid- and high-rise Art Deco buildings, this structure has been described as atypical for the Big Apple and more akin to a Miami-style Art Deco building with a horizontal character.
According to several sources, it was built in 1928, however this is contradicted by a 23 December 1930 Brooklyn Daily Eagle article. The news story reports that Shampan & Shampan architects of Brooklyn had been retained to design a swimming pool and 3-story building at the corner of Bronxdale Avenue and Antin Place in the Bronx. Consistent with this, a 27 April 1931 article in the Evening Post (today's NY Post) refers to the "new Bronxdale Swimming Pool." Other 1931 newspaper articles confirm the building and pool being under construction and completed in 1931. (It is a bit ironic that one of the best sources of information on this pool was the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, but it demonstrates the Eagle was a very thorough newspaper.)
The Bronxdale Swimming Pool was a private facility and was the target of a protest by Communists in 1932 objecting to a purported policy that prohibited African-Americans from using the pool. Several protesters were arrested. The following year, the Afro-American newspaper reported that a lawsuit was being brought after two "colored" children were denied use of the pool. Whether these efforts succeeded in this pre-civil rights era are unknown.
In 1945 the NY Sun ran an advertisement for an auction of the Bronxdale Swimming Pool, noting it was a "going business" and a "real estate opportunity." A 1948 Brooklyn Eagle article reported on a water carnival taking place at the pool. At some point after, the pool ceased operating.
According to a 1984 article in the Yonkers Herald Statesman, after the swimming pool stop operating, the building was converted into an electronics factory. The property where the swimming pool was located has been a parking lot for many years.
For further reading:
bklyn.newspapers.com/image/58063185/?terms=shampan%2Bswim...
bklyn.newspapers.com/image/57368024/?terms=%22bronxdale%2...
news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1532&dat=19330701&...